S. Fla. hotel occupancy dips in 2008 - Triangle Business Journal:

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A study of nationwide hotel trendsd released this week by Smith Travelk Research showsthat tri-county hoteles saw modest declines in occupancy from 2007 to 2008. when it came to average dailt rates, Miami actually had slight increases. Year over year, full-serviced Miami-Dade hotels saw occupancy fall to 70 percenyt in 2008from 71.8 percent in 2007. Limited-servicre hotels slipped to 72.6 percent in 2008 from 73.8 percenr in 2007. Smith Travel Research defines full-service hoteles as those in mid-priced, upscale or luxuru range. They typically have a restaurant, bell serviced and meeting space. Limited-servicew hotels are those that only offe rooms and fall inthe class.
While other destinations suffered, Miami-Dade remained relatively flat thanksz to its strong international saidGinny Gutierrez, director of communityh relations for the Greater Miami Conventiob & Visitors Bureau. While both domestic business and leisuree travel suffered in the fourtbh quarter oflast year, with the U.S. economic international businessremained steady, she Occupancy numbers might have been better if Miami hadn’t seen so many new rooms became available in the second half of the year, Gutierreaz added. The Fontainebleau and Eden Roc aloned made thousands of newroomws available. Full-service Broward hotel occupancy fellto 65.9 percenf in 2008 from 66.
6 percent in 2007 Limited-service hotelss fell to 65.5 percent in 2008 from 67.9 percent in 2007. In Palm Beacnh County, full-service hotel occupancy fell to 63.6 percentr in 2008 from 66.7 percent in 2007. Limited-service hotelsd went to 58.7 percent from 61.6 percent – a drop of 4.8 the largest slide in the region on apercentage basis. Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of the Palm Beachb CountyConvention & Visitors Bureau, said the area saw the largestr drops due to a calculatecd pullback from corporate travelers. Though Palm Beach Countg has a diverse mix of it has to fight the perception that it is only for the he said.
“The combination of the economy and the AIG effect has been nasty to us for some he said, referring to populist outragd at executives of the failed financial company. “Th corporate world has becomeevery tentative, very shy about going to upscale resorts for fear of an image backlash.” Nationwide, full-service hotels reported an averagw occupancy rate of 67.4 percenty in 2008. That declined 2.6 percenft from 2007. The average daily rate charged for a roomat Miami’s full-service hotels rose to $182.78 in 2008 from $181.390 in 2007, a 0.8 percent gain. Limited-service was up to $109.13e from $108.85. The most expensive average daily rate in 2008was $187.
10 at Palm Beac h full-service hotels. But, that slipped 1.3 percentt from 2007. Limited service was down a half percent. Broward’z limited-service hotels saw the biggest percentage decliner in ratesto $92.64 in 2008 from $96.23 in 2007, down 3.7 percent. Full-service Browarrd hotels dropped 1.4 percent. “We are kind of trapped in a downspiralingvof rates,” said Nicki Grossman, presidenft and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Conventiob & Visitors Bureau. “Part of that is that ratess have gone up over the past few years so so fast.
” While it’s hard to predict, Broward’xs limited-service sector may bounce back faster than the full-service, she The reason: over the last few Broward has seen the most robust growth in demandx for limited-service rooms for passengers goingv on cruises and discount group-rate business. Nationwide, the averager daily rate was $164.31 in down from $166.69 in 2007. Gutierres said she was cautiously optimistic that the worst is over for While occupancy declined in May compared to the same time last the rate of decline was no worse than in For months, the declines had been gettingg worse, she said. “It’s an indication that we’ve probably hit she said.
“What we are seeing is some stabilityh now.”